Percussive drums utilize a generally tubular shell having a tensioned membrane or “drumhead” interconnected over one or two open ends of the shell. The tensioned drumhead(s) in combination with a tubular shell, allows a drum to produce amplified percussive tones. Generally, musician quality drums utilize drumheads that are clamped under a rim on one end of the drum shell. Clamping screws attach to the rim and screw into threaded receptacles mounted on the side of the drum shell. When these screws are tightened, the rim tensions the drumhead securely across an open end of the drum shell. Typically, drums utilizing skin and synthetic drumheads utilize these cumbersome clamping means to secure the head to the drum shell as well as tension the drumhead.
If a drum shell does not have sufficient structural integrity when the drumhead is tensioned, the drum shell may be squeezed inwardly, becoming slightly elliptical. This may result in misaligning the bearing edge of the drum shell, which affects the tension maintained across the drumhead and may cause an undesired change in the percussive tone of the drum. In order to produce drum shells having adequate structural integrity to withstand drumhead tensioning and/or percussive forces applied to the drumhead, drum shells are commonly made of reinforced wood or composite laminate materials. In this regard, construction of the drum shell involves a considerable degree of mechanical skill and labor.
Drumheads range from crude, inexpensive structures such as paper or fabric stretched to very expensive drumheads that utilize natural animal skins or synthetic materials. Inexpensive paper or fabric heads are typically not capable of producing musician-quality tones for percussive drums. In contrast, synthetic drumheads and skin drumheads typically produce more sophisticated, resonant sound, particularly in the lower ranges, which musicians typically prefer. Furthermore, skin drumheads typically produce a warm tone having a fundamental note produced with minimal overtones. Additionally, sound decay in drums having a skin drumhead is relatively short, allowing each note of a musical composition to be articulated. In this regard, drums that utilize skin drumheads are well suited for student musicians. However, as a result of utilizing intricate tensioning/attachment means and complex drum shells, musician quality drums that utilize skin drumheads are relatively expensive. Accordingly, these drums are often prohibitively expensive for student musicians.